And here I thought I was finally at peak fitness.

Oh silly man, you know that takes 6 months, not 3 and a half months. But I usually have a high opinion of myself (I know, I know, how could such a humble man say that? heh.), and I posted the fastest time on my hour course this year, so that had to be top 3-4 of my 2010 monster days, right? Oh hohoho, I love having data, because then I can totally destroy such foolish notions.

Today's time was barely top 20. Yeah, I'm ahead of schedule compared to when I first posted comparable times, but seeing the numbers was a good reminder not to get cocky. So, at least my ego has something to salvage in reaching this level of fitness 6 weeks ahead of the 2010 schedule.

However, now I'm curious about where my plateau will end up. Back in March, I took note that my median times on my hour course were similar to numbers recorded after 6 months of training. For today's result, a similar number was first recorded after just 5 months. As you get closer to peak fitness, you can sometimes have really good days and then just have average performance the next day. That's nothing to get demoralized about, just something to look forward to. I didn't consistently throw down these top 20 numbers until after 6 months. Also, a couple of those fast times were because I was able to sprint and catch a parade of motorcycle cops practicing maneuvers and ride their slipstream. Good times, good times. But anyway, the trend line of being ahead of schedule compared to 2010 is going down, and should match my 2010 fitness results in 9 weeks, or exactly 6 months.

So, which trend line should I be paying attention to? My hard numbers progress, which if I follow linearly, means I'm 6 weeks ahead of schedule, and that at the end of 6 months, I'll be even faster than I was in 2010? Or my comparison trend line, which says that I'll be exactly the same speed that I was in 2010, but faster on the hills and slower on the flats? I don't know now, but I will know in about 2 weeks.